A Football Break in Berlin is a 4 Part Series written by Jack Gillies exclusively for Covert Football Trips following his latest experience in the German Capital City.
A Football Break in Berlin – Part 2
I have visited BFC Dynamo a good few times and I must confess to having a bit of a soft spot for the record East German champions due to their controversial history and the general ‘Eastern Bloc’ atmosphere around the club.
BFC Dynamo call the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen home, the DDR era stadium has certainly seen better days with one terrace closed due to safety concerns, but it oozes character and is certainly a ground for us football romantics with an old fashioned manual score board and proper old terracing. When picking your spot at the Sportforum you can either choose to stand with the hardcore in the terracing which is an amazing experience in terms of atmosphere, or you if you want a calmer experience and want to focus on the game you can choose to sit in the stand.
My top tip for the Sportforum is show up early so you can get a good spot BFC regularly attract attendances of 1 or 2 thousand so both the stand and the terrace can get rather crowded. The Sportforum also has a club house, a club shop and stands selling food and beer so make sure you allow plenty of time before kick-off to get around everything. With BFC Dynamo recently switching back to their DDR era crest I made sure I picked up plenty of merchandise including a t-shirt and scarf.
A special shout-out to the BFC Dynamo food vendors as well as the Stadionwurst has to be up there with some of the best in Germany and comes nice and hot fresh off of the grill and is always very reasonably priced!
Friday’s Regionalliga Nordost tie (German 4th tier) promised to be an absolute cracker with BFC’s new boss Dirk Kunert taking charge of his first game against a high flying Babelsberg side who had started the season very strongly and were heading into the game in fine form. The Regionalliga Nordost in my humble opinion is one of the most of most enjoyable and exciting football leagues in the world and this clash certainly did not disappoint!
The new manager bounce was well and truly felt as BFC Dynamo ran out 3-0 winners in what was a fantastic game of football while impressive the score-line certainly flattered BFC as Babelsberg had plenty of chances of their own and really should have found an equaliser – however two late BFC goals ended the game as a contest and ensured the points were staying in the capital. My moment of the night was the celebrations after BFC’s second goal with the initial effort hitting the bar before the second ball was palmed away by the Babelsberg keeper only for BFC to find the back of the net in the ensuing scramble plenty of strangers were hugged and I ended up wearing another fans beer!
Both sets of fans were fantastic with BFC Dynamo fans in fine voice for the whole 90 minutes and an impressive traveling contingent from Babelsberg also making themselves heard there was also a pyrotechnic display from the Babelsberg fans during the 2nd half. The tram ride back to my hotel was also entertaining with myself, some BFC supporting friends and two Danish visitors having a good old singsong on the ride back to the city centre.
The night under the lights at the Sportforum was an amazing experience! The football was fantastic, the atmosphere was amazing, and the beer and bratwurst went down an absolute treat. BFC Dynamo are a huge club with a fascinating history and are an absolute must visit for anyone who loves proper old-fashioned football.
Cost:
A match ticket at BFC Dynamo costs EUR 15 this grants access to both the terracing and seating in the stand outside of the VIP area. I also picked up a match program for EUR 2 which is a fantastic price for a program with plenty of reading in it even if you don’t speak German BFC’s match programs are a great way to remember your visit. My scarf and t-shirt both cost 20 EUR each.
Getting to the stadium:
I jumped on the M5 tram at Otto Braun Strasse near my hotel and stayed on until Konrad Wolf Strasse. Google maps takes most people to Hohenschoenhauserweg while getting off the tram there is possible getting to the stadium involves a long walk past the away entrance on certain match days the Police might not let people wanting into the home end down that route to keep supporters separate. My recommendation is getting off the tram at Konrad Wolf Strasse which has direct access to the home end and ticket office. The M4 tram also serves this stop and can be picked up from Berlin city centre.
A Football Break in Berlin – Part 3…
The third part in this four part series by Jack Gillies will be available next Friday 20th October. If you missed part 1 you can read it here.
Fancy a visit to Germany?
At Covert Football Trips we organise Mystery Football Weekends to Germany. Your trip could see you arrive in Berlin for some great football matches. Visit our website to find out more.
